Confusion Lights the Way
by Princess Phyre
Summary: A boy in a small town falls in love with a girl...'s boyfriend? SasuNaru, college AU. Formerly "Missing Pieces."
1. In Which Sakura's Boyfriend is a Bastard

A/N: Yay, my first SasuNaru fanfiction! Which is kind of strange. I've been a total fangirl for it since, like, august (before that I was more into SasuSaku. I still kind of have a weak spot for it... don't judge me...)

So in case you didn't read the summary when you clicked this, here it is now: A boy in a small town falls in love with a girl...'s boyfriend? Naruto has been in love with Sakura for as long as he can remember, but he's not sure what to think when Sasuke kisses him. At first he hates the guy, but as he gets to know Sasuke, he finds himself falling...  
SasuNaru, obviously. Others too, but those are only vague references. You could consider certain parts NaruSaku-y, but trust me, the NaruSaku-ness won't last for long. Also, it's a college AU.

Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to own Sasuke, neither he nor any of Masashi Kishimoto's character's will ever belong to me. (Damn you, Kishimoto! Damn you TV Tokyo! I'll get you back... somehow. What? Am I not allowed to make obscure internet references?)

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**In Which Sakura's Boyfriend is a Bastard**

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Naruto _hated _college.

At least, he hated the parts that involved sitting down and studying. Making himself stare at the words in his textbook was like pulling his hairs out one by one. He was almost glad when the shrill sound of his cell phone broke the silence, even though he had a test the next day.

"Hello?"

"Naruto!" Sakura squealed. "Thank god you picked up. For some reason, Rock Lee and Ino are both ignoring my calls."

"What's up?"

"I'm going to make cookies. For Sasuke."

"…How nauseatingly mushy of you." _And totally unfair. _He wanted to add. She'd never made cookies for him. Maybe he wasn't as dreamy as Sasuke, but didn't best friend status earn him some perks?

"Shut up, you're just jealous. I need you to go get some chocolate chips and flour."

"Aw, Sakura, can't you do it yourself? You're the one with a car. I'm studying –"

"I know you, Naruto, and I know you are not studying. You are are fidgeting and eating and watching TV and listening to CDs and telling yourself you _will _study."

"…" She had him there; it was more or less true. He was quite skilled in the art of procrastination, and had been pushing off the studying for weeks. Fortunately for him, he was also no novice to the art of cramming the night before the big test. Of course, Sakura wouldn't let him do that until she got her way.

He didn't have to say anything; she knew he'd give in. "Hurry, okay? The supermarket is only open for another half hour."

"I'm going, I'm going," Naruto muttered, pulling his coat on.

Naruto didn't need a car to get Sakura eggs and chocolate chips so she could make cookies for her precious boyfriend; he lived within walking distance of both Sakura's house and the supermarket.

"I'm heading out!" he called to Iruka.

The light on the "n" of Wegman's had broken, so the sign on the front of the store read "Wegmas". Naruto thought it sounded like the name one would give to a holiday. Maybe Wegmas was the patron saint of cookies' birthday_. _Which would mean that particular saint's name was 'Weg', and who in their right mind would name their child 'Weg'? More importantly, what did Saint Weg have against Naruto? Obviously she demanded her birthday be celebrated by torturing him, and that was why Sakura was making cookies for and swooning over some guy named Sasuke and not him.

He shook his head and walked inside. Shikamaru was behind the single cash register that day. The idea of him having a job was laughable, but the fact that he was currently snoring with his head on the conveyer belt made it all slightly more believable.

He didn't see anyone else in the store, which made sense; it was only a few minutes before closing time. Naruto's steps echoed against the walls as he made his way to the chocolate chips.

His shoelaces must have been untied, because before he knew what was happening, he was landing face-first onto the cold floor.

He rolled over, angry and embarrassed. "Alright, who tripped me?" he asked almost hopefully, only to be met by silence. He sighed, wishing that just once he could be able to blame someone other than his own stupidity. He shrugged it off and sat up to tie his shoelaces, whistling and ignoring the pain in his forehead.

Someone tapped him on the top of his head. He lifted his eyes, expecting to find a newly-awakened and angry Shikamaru, but instead there was a stranger standing there, arm extended.

This was very odd. Konoha was the kind of ridiculously small town where everyone knew everyone, and here was someone that Naruto _didn't _know. It was like meeting an alien.

This alien had spiky black hair and black eyes. Naruto thought he seemed like the kind of pretty boy Sakura would go for, and then he felt discouraged that he himself didn't fall into that category.

"You're new here, right?" He asked, accepting the other boy's help getting up.

"You're Naruto Uzumaki, right?" He replied. Naruto grinned. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

He got a smug look on his face as he pulled Naruto up abruptly and kissed him hard on the mouth before walking away. There was a tattoo on the back of his neck that read 'Uchiha'.

Naruto stood there, stunned, for a good three minutes before the anger set in, and by then the bastard had walked out of the door. He dropped the bag of chocolate chips on the ground and rushed back into the cold night air.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, even though the freak was nowhere to be seen. He spat on the ground and rubbed his lips on his mouth, muttering, before going back inside to buy Sakura her damn cookie-making supplies.

"What's your problem?" Shikamaru asked, yawning as Naruto slammed the chocolate chips and flour down in front of him.

"Nothing." He said. "Just… studying. It's tiring."

"How troublesome."

"At least I won't be living with my parents for the rest of my life." Naruto said it good naturedly; he liked Shikamaru. The lazy ponytail wearer was decent enough towards him, and unlike a lot of people in Konoha, he wasn't entirely convinced that Naruto was possessed by the devil.

…

He knocked loudly on Sakura's door. She opened it quickly. "God, what's wrong with you?" she asked. "You trying to wake the whole town? You know if my mom finds out you're here, she'll have a hissy fit." He shrugged.

"Sorry." He hadn't meant to take out his fury at the black-haired stranger on her door.

"Come on in." She pulled the door open. "You can lick the batter off the spoon if you want."

"Goody!" he exclaimed honestly. She laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Just know that I'm kicking you out at ten thirty. I don't want you sleeping in; you'll make us late." Both Sakura and Naruto lived at home, and they went to the same community college an hour away. She had the car, and he had the money to pay for gas each day, but getting up early enough to show up on time was a hassle.

"Hey, Sakura?" he asked as she preset the oven. She turned around.

"Oh, your voice is all serious. What is it?"

"At the supermarket, this guy kissed me." His fingers clenched into fists just thinking about it.

"What?" She didn't share his outrage. Instead she crossed the room and wrapped him in a big hug. "Eighteen, and you finally got your first kiss!"

"Okay, first of all, it was my second kiss. Remember? Hinata? Tenth grade?" She waved it away.

"First, second, whatever. Eep, I'm so happy for you!"

"You're not getting it. I didn't even _know _the guy. He was such a jerk. I mean, who just kisses a guy out of the blue? Isn't that sexual harassment?"

She wasn't listening. "I mean, I always thought you were on that side of the fence. Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have had a problem with it. I've dated a girl before, remember?"

What Naruto remembered was that Ino and Sakura had used her fifteenth birthday as an opportunity to make out, and one of the other guests – most likely her ex, Rock Lee – had called Pastor Orochimaru, who'd shown up at the Haruno residence armed with a bible and a lecture against the evils of homosexuality. Of course he had to make a big stink when he saw Naruto too, yelling at Mrs. Haruno for allowing the 'devil child' into her home. Naruto wasn't invited over too much after that.

"So, what's his name? Is he hot?"

"Stop talking about it like that!"

"So are you saying you're not gay? Or at least bi?"

Naruto didn't answer. Okay, so he liked looking at the men from time to time, but since when did that make a person un-straight? He was in love with Sakura, for Christ's sake. Didn't that tip things in his favor on the heterosexuality scale?

"Aha! You're hesitating!"

"Look, I hate that guy, okay?"

"Sure you do. Just tell me his name."

"I don't even know. And that's weird. I thought I knew everyone. That reminds me, what's this Sasuke like? How come I haven't seen him around either?"

She swooned, and Naruto repressed a gag.

"He's like, a child prodigy. He's our age, and he's already graduated college. And he's so reliable and sweet and –"

"-And I'm about to puke. Just tell me, is he some kind of hermit who stays locked up in his house all day? 'Cause that's the only reason I can think of that I wouldn't have run into him yet."

"He moved here from some big city – why he would move _here _of all places is beyond me." She tapped her finger against her lips. "Though it is odd you haven't seen him yet. He's been here for months, and it's not like this town is so overflowing with people that it's impossible to tell one from another." She walked into another room and returned with her wallet.

"This is my baby." She pulled a picture out of her wallet, and Naruto stared, open-mouthed. He _had _seen Sasuke around. He'd recognize that smirk anywhere.

Sasuke was the bastard from the super market.

"Ah! Him! He!" Naruto motioned wildly.

"Good god, Naruto, calm down, would you?"

Naruto gulped, telling his mouth to _shut up. _

"Sorry. I just recognized him from somewhere." Naruto didn't need to tell Sakura that her boyfriend was the one who'd kissed him. Not yet, anyways.

"Oh?" She slipped the picture back in her wallet, and walked back over to the kitchen counter. "Here's the spoon. Lick to your heart's content." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, and he shuddered.

"See, now you've just ruined it. You'll be making all sorts of penis jokes while I'm trying to enjoy perfectly innocent cookie batter."

"Fine. I don't want you sucking on my stick anyways."

"You don't have a stick, Sakura."

"If I did, you'd so want it."

"This metaphor is getting too complicated for me."

"It's ten thirty. Go home. Go to sleep. Maybe get some studying in first." He groaned.

"Ahg. First sticks now studying. Are you trying to give me a heart attack using words that start with 's'?"

"Sasuke's name starts with an 's'". Naruto's stomach lurched, and he felt an odd mix of anxiety, anger, and guilt – why should _he _feel guilty, though? – at the mention of the bastard's name.

"Good night, Sakura."

When he got back to his house, Iruka shouted down to him: "You'd better study now!"

"Just a second!" Naruto pulled out his phone book and flipped to the 'U' page, moving his finger along until it fell on 'Sasuke Uchiha'.

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A/N:

Well, that chapter was rather uneventful. W/e, I had fun writing the all the banter. Oh, and I feel like I should let everyone know that while this chapter (and, I'm pretty sure, most chapters) are pretty light and happy, there is some mild angst up ahead. Oh, don't give me that look. One of the main characters is Sasuke, what do you expect?  
Read and review, please!


	2. In Which Violence is the Solution

A/N:  
So... this chapter's title is totally against my personal beliefs. I'm a pacifist... mostly... *cough*. The point is, I don't think violence is really the answer/solution to anything, and please don't use this chapter is an excuse to go beat people up or something. HUGS NOT PUNCHES. :3. Sorry for the long delay between chapter-updates, people. I've been getting a lot of favorite-ing action going on with this story, which is lovely beyond words, but review-action makes me smile even more. So review please?

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In Which Violence is the Solution

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Early the next morning, Naruto once again found himself at the home of Saint Wegmas, otherwise known as the local supermarket, waiting for Sasuke to arrive.

He felt nervous and fidgety – _which is totally ridiculous_, he told himself_. It's not like this will be the first fight I've ever been in._ Back in high school and middle school, he'd gotten into fistfights all the time. It wasn't that he was a bully; he just had to defend himself a lot. Parents all told their children to stay away from him because of his devil-seed-status. Most of them had the good decency to alienate him and otherwise leave him alone, but a few took it a step further and decided Naruto's name was actually Punching Bag. So he fought back – not in an I'm-Going-To-Beat-The-Shit-Out-Of-You way, mind you; he'd bruised a few people, sure, but he'd never broken any bones or anything. It was all purely self-defense.

And then he took up defending others – like the time Hinata's cousin started screaming at her in the middle of the cafeteria, and Naruto took a swing at him.

The entire school hated him most of the time, but when he was in one of his righteous fights, they gathered around him and his opponent, excitedly looking on and doing their best to block the squabble from view of any teachers. Admittedly, Naruto liked the attention, the thrill of being accepted – if only temporarily.

Naruto wasn't one to hold a grudge and many of his former fighting partners became his friends later, when they realized their families' hatred and fear of him was misplaced. Sakura was the first example of this; she and Ino had descended on him on the first day of sixth grade, calling him names and pulling his hair. After enduring the screeching voices, hyena laughs, and sharp pain in his scalp for a good five minutes, he slapped Sakura. She stared at him in awe for a few minutes before slapping him back and saying, "You dummy, you can't hit a girl."

"Yeah." Ino contributed intelligently.

"Why not?" He asked, rubbing his stinging face. "You started it."

"Because – Because –" Ino spluttered.

"You just can't." Sakura sighed, exasperated. "And you're the one they're calling the devil incarnate?"

He shrugged. "You're just an idiot," she proclaimed, grinning, and from then on, he and Sakura were best friends, though Ino never quite warmed up to him.

The more serious fights started in high school; Kiba and Neji were two more who grew to admire him some time after attempting to beat him up.

The fighting habits had died down by senior year, and by the time he graduated, he thought he had washed his hands of the whole business all together. That had been before he'd found out that Sakura's _boyfriend _had been the one to kiss him in the middle of the supermarket. Naruto would be the first to admit that he wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed, but even _he_ was capable of connecting the dots; if Sasuke was prepared to make out with strangers in the local Wegman's, it was a safe bet that Sakura wasn't the only girl (or boy, apparently) on his mind. He was _cheating _on Sakura.

Naruto hadn't really been thinking when he'd demanded Sasuke to meet him there. Now he could hear how his own voice must have sounded as he proposed the fight: shrill and childish, like a two-year-old throwing a temper-tantrum. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd been attempting to be Sakura's Knight In Shining Armor, but he ended up being a Jealous Brat – which he was, he supposed, but he was still sore over having revealed it.

It was 6:01 now, and Leaf University was an hour away. If he wasn't at Sakura's house by 7:55 AM sharp, she would drive off without him. He was cursing silently at himself for not having thought this whole thing through better when he heard footsteps in the opposite direction. It was still an hour until Wegman's opened for the day, which meant this person could only be -

"Sasuke?"

"Sasuke?" A high-pitched voice called back, mocking him. "Who's that?" Tayuya asked. "Your boyfriend?"

Naruto cringed. Tayuya was another student he'd often fought with in high school, and Sakura eagerly lifted her no-hitting-girls-rule for her sake. Tayuya hung on every word Pastor Orochimaru said, and she never did anything without his approval. She thoroughly despised Naruto – because, of course, Orochimaru told her to. Every Tuesday, Anko gave self-defense lessons to the girls of Konoha in the park. Tayuya had managed to turn those self-defending skills into beating-on-Naruto skills.

"Look," He said, tiredly, "Can you just leave me alone? I kind of have to fight someone else and get over to Sakura's house by 7:55, and I don't want to waste my energy on you, and –"

"You're just afraid to fight me."

Naruto's temper flared up. "I'm _not _afraid, I –" she punched him in the gut. "I – flunked – my – SATs –" she punctuated the words with punches. The statement both bewildered Naruto – what did her SAT-flunkage have to do with him? – and embarrassed him. He was being beaten up by someone a year younger than him.

"Because-of-you." She finished, and the beating made a little more sense. Being the resident spawn of evil meant he got the blame for all the bad things that happened. If you got dumped or had a fight with your parents or got fired, it wasn't because you had been a crappy girlfriend/boyfriend/daughter/son/employee – oh, no, that Naruto must have given you the evil eye. _It's like the salem witch trials_, Naruto remarked thoughtfully to himself as Tayuya kicked him in the shins – _only minus the burning at the stake part._

Naruto was tempted to hit her back, but the last time he'd been in a fight with Tayuya, she'd run to Orochimaru afterwards and claimed that evil old Naruto had attacked her out of nowhere. The Pastor had, of course, used this information to enforce his Naruto-is-evil-we-must-shun-him viewpoints.

"Why – don't – you – just – go – back – to – hell?"

Naruto started humming under his breath so as not to focus on the blood trickling from his nose.

Suddenly the incoming punches and kicks came to a complete stop, and the song he was humming seemed incredibly loud.

He lifted his head a few inches to find Sasuke roughly gripping Tayuya's arm. Without saying anything or changing his facial expression, he twisted her arm back behind her. Naruto heard a sickening cracking noise.

"What the fuck?" She shrieked. It was the first time Naruto had ever heard her swear – Orochimaru forbade it.

"Get out." Sasuke sounded tired. Tayuya ran away, shouting at him behind her back the whole time. Naruto couldn't exactly make out what she was saying, but he did catch "fuck," "shitbag," and "Holy fuckshit this hurts!" a few times.

Sasuke whacked Naruto across the head. "I came here to beat the shit out of you." He said, his voice deadpan. "And you let someone else beat me to it?"

This Sasuke was much different from the smirking one Naruto had last met at Wegman's.

Naruto lifted a hand to his bloody face, then rubbed it on Sasuke's shoes. Sasuke kicked dirt at him, then looked down at him disgustedly. "Why do they call you the devil child around here?" he asked.

Naruto tried to lift himself up, but found that Tayuya had done a number on his arms as well. "Dammit," he muttered to himself, "I really need to pay more attention to stuff."

"_Why do they call you the devil child?" _Sasuke repeated, louder and more insistent this time. His arms were folded over his chest, and he was tapping one finger impatiently on the other arm.

"Help me up, bastard." Naruto demanded.

"Not until you answer my question, moron."

Naruto sighed and looked away.

"Because," he said slowly, "I… when I was three, I… killed my parents."


	3. In Which People are Jackasses

A/N: I changed the name of this story because I discovered another SasuNaru story that was also called "Missing Pieces" (it's by RosaLui. You should totally go look it up, it's awesomesauce.) Hers is much better, and so it wins the name. I apologize for any confusion, dear reader(s?)

As always, reviews are cherished and held dearly for all time to come. Eheh, but I never reply to reviews... too lazy...

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In Which People are Jackasses**

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Naruto reached out with his hand. "Now help me up." Sasuke chewed his lower lip for a moment before raising his foot and stomping it back down on Naruto's hand.

"Ow!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, glaring up at Sasuke. "Bastard. I have enough bruises already without you adding to the mix."

But Sasuke didn't seem to care. Naruto inspected his face and realized that the guy looked fucking _pissed. _There was a vein popping out on his forehead, and his jaw was set.

"Holy shit. You think I did it on purpose, don't you?" Naruto managed to get himself up and smack Sasuke lightly across his head. "And you call me a moron. I was _three._ See, my dad was a policeman, and his gun –"

"I don't care."

Naruto stopped short. "Just a few minutes ago, you were demanding that I explain to you why people think I'm a devil child. Now you're telling me to shut up. Hey, are you bipolar or something? Not that I care, I mean, Sakura's told me on occasion that she thinks I have ADD, but – oh my god, I just realized that your hair sort of looks like a duck's ass!"

Sasuke turned around slowly and walked away, and Naruto remembered that _he _was supposed to be the angry one here.

"Not so fast!" he shouted, but Sasuke kept walking. "I wanted to fight you, and I still do!"

Sakura had probably already left for the university by now. _Crap. _

"Go home," Sasuke called back. "They said you were a good fighter, but you're just a moron. Waste of time."

"Huh? Who said what?" Naruto shook his head in confusion, and then the last part of Sasuke's sentence registered in his brain.

"Hey!" he managed to make his aching legs move, running until he caught up with Sasuke. He grabbed a hold of the white-clad shoulder so that Sasuke had to stop, but he still avoided Naruto's eyes.

"You can call me a moron if you want." Naruto's eyes were narrowed, and his voice was quieter than usual. "But don't you _ever _call me a waste. Got that?"

Sasuke shrugged off his hand and continued on in the opposite direction.

"Bastard!"

"Why don't you come up with a larger variety of insults, moron?"

…

Sakura, Naruto discovered when he made it back to her house, had already left. Her mother would probably be waking up soon too, so Naruto retreated back to his own home.

Iruka was waiting for him there, and when he saw the bruises covering Naruto, his jaw unhinged.

"Wha – you – I" He stopped spluttering only to throw his hands up in disbelief, giving the sky a '_what did I do wrong?' _look.

He sighed and motioned toward the couch, going over to the fridge to get Naruto some ice.

"Think you'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Nothing fatal."

Iruka handed Naruto a baggy of ice, and Naruto smiled gratefully. He put it on a black-and-purple spot on his stomach, wincing at first, but soon the area became numb.

"And you were doing so well at the whole 'avoiding fights' thing." Iruka muttered. "I thought you'd grown up."

"Wasn't my fault."

"It never is, is it?"

"Look," Naruto said defensively, "I'm eighteen now. A legally independent, responsible adult. You can't ground me, or whatever."

"Ah, but you still live in my house."

"_It wasn't my fault!" _Iruka rolled his eyes.

"Really, it wasn't. I just – uh, made a morning trip to Wegman's, and Tayuya attacked me!" Iruka still didn't look quite convinced.

"Really! She's crazy! She practically worships Orochimaru. Scratch the practically part. She flunked her SAT's, so she felt the need to take it out on the 'spawn-o'-satan'." He looked up at his legal guardian hopefully, begging the man with his eyes to understand. Iruka seemed to come to a decision in his mind, and he nodded.

"I'll go make you some ramen." He stood up, but before going into the kitchen, he asked: "Didn't you just go to Wegman's yesterday? What were you doing there today?"

"Uh – erm, I was, uh –" Naruto was not that skilled at lying. He took a deep breath, then said it all in one rush: "I was supposed to meet this guy for a fist fight."

Iruka's shoulders sunk a little bit, and then he went into the kitchen to make Naruto his ramen.

…

As Naruto sucked the noodles into his mouth like some kind of living, breathing vacuum, Iruka was tapping his fingers gently on the living room coffee table.

"Did you propose the fight, or did he?"

"…"

Iruka snatched the ramen bowl away.

"Alright, already! It was my idea! But only because –"

"No 'buts'. You were right; you're much too old for me to be grounding you. Instead, you're going to apologize to this boy."

Naruto stared at him in disbelief. _Apologize? To Sasuke? _The very thought made him gag.

"But… I don't even know his phone number!" he lied.

"That's good, because you won't be apologizing over the phone; too impersonal. You'll make a sincere apology to his face."

"Don't know where he lives."

"Then find out. Until you do, no ramen." Iruka stood up and went back into the kitchen. Naruto cringed as he heard box after box of ramen hit the inside of the garbage can.

"We'll buy more once you make this right."

"I'll just buy my own," Naruto muttered angrily.

"And I'll throw it away," Iruka said. He didn't sound angry anymore, but he looked determined; "You've got to learn to respect people more, Naruto. You'll never go anywhere in life – let alone become the Mayor of _this _town – if you don't get it through your head that a) people are jackasses, and b) you've got to accept them for all their jackassery, because chances are, you're a jackass too."

"What an inspiring speech."

"I try my best."

Naruto stared at the ice pack resting on his stomach. "You really think apologizing to this guy will get me any closer to mayor-dom?"

Iruka nodded, and Naruto groaned. "Fine. I'll do it."


End file.
